Rune Stryders

Conflict Resolution

Many actions require no special resolution—simply declaring the action is enough. If, however, an action leads to a conflict (as in combat), then you need to resolve the situation. Conflict resolutions are used to handle situations that can’t be resolved through roleplaying or simple declaration of intent. Conflict represents the challenge, and resolution the way of overcoming that challenge. To put it simply, whenever there’s doubt as to the success of a particular action, a conflict resolution must be made. Prior to any situation involving multiple participants, Initiative should be checked, as explained above. Then each participant, in order, goes through the following process:

1. Determine Base Difficulty

All conflict resolutions in Rune Stryders start with a difficulty Number assigned to the situation at hand. In Combat situations, the difficulty is 10, and is opposed using the defender’s Dodge skill. For other situations, an appropriate Barrier (if the target is another character) can be chosen, or a Difficulty based on the situation at hand can be applied.

Difficulty Base

Target Number for Success

Easy

5

Average

10

Difficult

15

Challenging

20

Easy tasks are those at which just about anyone could succeed without trying hard at all, with limited repercussions if the attempt were to fail. E.g.: Leaping from a second story window into a bale of hay, or tracking a heavily-loaded cart across a muddy field.

Average tasks are the standard by which all others are measured, representing those things which can be overcome with relative ease, but which are not an automatic success. Failure to succeed at such a task often has negative consequences. E.g. Leaping from a second story window onto hard ground, or tracking an opponent down a dirt road.

Difficult tasks are, as the name suggests, more difficult and dangerous than Average tasks, implying that an average, halfhearted attempt will probably fail, and/or result in severe consequences if failure occurs. E.g. Leaping from a second story window to land on a moving cart, or trying to track someone at night without the benefit of a lantern.

Challenging tasks are most likely to require the assistance of more than one character, or additional time and effort, in order to overcome. Failing to succeed at a Challenging task often has dire consequences. E.g. Leaping from a fourth story window across a moat of broken glass to land on a moving horse, or tracking a snake through an overgrown swamp in the middle of a rainstorm.

2. Modify Difficulty

From the base difficulty number, you add or subtract the appropriate Attribute score plus any situational modifiers (penalties for weather conditions, etc.) A list of possible modifiers is provided later in this Book.

This final number, after modification, is called the Target.

3. Roll Dice

Once the Target is determined, roll zero or more 10-sided dice. If neither an Attribute nor a Skill is involved (as in the case of Barrier checks, described below) then dice are not involved at all. The comparison is between the Target and another number, success or failure based on that alone.

If an Attribute is involved, one ten-sided die is used. If a specific Skill is involved, then one or more additional dice are rolled, one per level of the character’s skill, for a total of between two (level 1) and five (level 4) dice. Once the dice are rolled, the number of successes (results equal to or higher than the Target) is determined. If there is at least one success, then the attempt was at least partially successful. If there were no successes, the attempt was a total failure.

Iron Wolf

Iron Wolves are thick, powerfully built Stryders, broadshouldered and often riddled with spikes and plates beyond the point of utility. They are giant steel warriors, designed to cause and absorb tremendous damage. Generally having four limbs and no head, they are humanoid (and thus have two arms and two legs), though with a pronounced crouch that lowers their center of mass and provides additional stability. Many feature a single, solid compartment atop the shoulders for a pair of archers or spearmen. The Pilot generally rides inside the belly area.

Construction

Iron Wolves are roughly twenty-five feet tall, and extraordinarily powerful. They are constructed of stone slabs over a steel frame, making them incredibly solid but terribly slow.

Mission

Crews are typically large, numbering between five and fifteen individuals, plus the Pilot. This includes any assortment of heavily-armored individuals, typically armed with swords or axes designed to strike at the most determined foes. More lightly-armored crew members in shoulder-mounted compartments often carry spears or crossbows. Iron Wolves are used quite often by the Myndwar in the defense of narrow passes, though the Divaros are fond of them as well.

Assembly and Repair

Construction takes a crew of twenty people two full years, including torso, limbs, Rune scribing, and other modifications. Repairs cost 35 Vel per Health, 350 Vel per Body.

Armament and Armor

Iron Wolves generally rely on melee weapons to do their damage, typically carrying one in each hand, fixed by a crew and swappable between engagements. Weapons are typically large-bladed weapons such as swords or axes, though clubs and maces are not uncommon. It is rare to see an Iron Wolf sporting additional armor, though particularly damage-prone Stryders may sport one or two thick steel plates.